About Us
We believe everything is connected,
stitch by stitch.
Nonohana is a wholesaler for high-quality, handcrafted tools to enjoy the art and process of making. Our name, meaning “wildflowers,” reflects how creative beauty improves our world through diversity, resilience and grace.
Our beliefs impact who we choose to partner with. We support a crafting community that is more:
Ethical. We value the time, craftmanship and dignity of the people who create the products we represent. We partner with independent and ethically run businesses who treat their workers with respect, pay a fair living wage, and never outsource production.
Sustainable. We honour the impact of our actions on our surroundings. We work with partners who are environmentally conscientious of how production impacts the world and their communities for the better.
Pleasurable. We believe how you make is just as important as what you make. We represent high-quality tools that invite use and help you savour the process of making. Our products are made with care, built to last and can be repaired over the long term.
Our partners
Hamanaka
With more than 80 years making high-quality felting & crafting tools, Hanamaka products are made by makers, as everyone in the organization knits and creates using the tools they produce. Independently owned and female-led, Hanamaka is committed to service over the lifetime of their products. They use materials that are sustainably grown and produced as part of an ongoing commitment to supporting local industry.
Mamanote
Mamanote is a fair-trade co-op organization that produces handcrafted bags in El Salvador. Reflecting the meaning “mother’s hands,” these products are made by highly skilled women who perform their work from home to complement their caretaking responsibilities to family. Mamanote uses high quality oilskin imported from England to create beautiful bags with thoughtful details, designed with makers in mind.
Nonohana is made with love.
Founders Claudia and Mido first connected through craft and found themselves united by a shared ethos. We believe in the power of making to improve people’s lives, by instilling a sense of accomplishment and peace. We want to make a positive contribution by sharing products with lasting value, keeping families happy and whole, and being mindful of our impact on the world.
Claudia is a born maker and experimenter who, even as a young child, expressed her vivid imagination in paper, fabric and yarn. As an immigrant to Canada, she has experienced firsthand how crafting and creativity dissolve cultural barriers and build the common space for vibrant, diverse communities to thrive. She lifts up the talents of those around her, and is grateful she can always turn to the calming, meditative practice of knitting and crochet.
Midori has always been drawn to handmade things, natural and beautiful in their imperfections. Her love of handwork and care is her family inheritance, passed down from her mother and grandmother, who showed her the joy in mending objects, being mindful of your surroundings, and bettering the lives of those around you. She embroiders and felts pieces that reflect nature’s creatures, and teaches others how to express their creativity through the needle arts.